Good for both teams!

I’m not sure if CBJ would trade for Johnson again but this makes a lot of sense.

(disclaimer I'm assuming the person who made this is a CBJ fan) while I would take this trade in a heartbeat and think it's not enough to move JJ, people have been getting WAY out of hand with the JJ contract, it's not even comparable to a lucic or Seabrook contract, it's about (or less than) 1/2 as much/yr as those, but people say it'll cost MORE than those to move... Like WTF

The only thing with this to me is, is Desmith even worth it? OK some decent backup stats but he's also 28 years old and has a whopping 50 games of experience. We're not talking about a big time goalie here.

Jack Johnson is not a contract you just take on for the "funsies". IMO Desmith is not even close to being enough for me to take on JJ.

Johnson kinda burned that bridge when he said: “I've been really wanting to be a part of a winning culture and a place where the expectations to win are as high as they can be." After leaving CLB and signing with PIT.

Plus CLB already has Werenski, Murray, Gavrikov, Nutivaara, Harrington, and Kukan as left-handed D-men. Don't think Johnson brings anything CLB doesn't already have at a cheaper price.

I think if Columbus don't trade for DeSmith, they get Subban on waivers after Florida claims Domingue and Colorado takes Jarry. Subban played in 21 games last year and got a .902 save percentage. He'd be an upgrade over Merzlikins. Desmith played 36 games, with a .916. Korpisalo played in 27 games and stopped .897. Desmith is an immediate upgrade at starter, over anything Korpisalo has shown in the last three seasons. If you give him 45 games, give Korpisalo 35, and call up Merzlikins for two, when someone needs the day off, then everybody's in their comfort zone, and if it goes well, the starter is signed for the next couple years, very, very cheaply.

There's a salary cost, for sure, in taking on Johnson. There's also a salary benefit in not giving Korpisalo a starting job yet, and being able to sign him next summer at 1.5x2, or trade him and bring up Merzlikins when he's ready. DeSmith is not an ideal starting goalie, at his age, but the term on his contract and his save percentage mean Columbus can extend Dubois long term, or bridge Dubois and extend Anderson. If Korpisalo is the Blue Jackets' only option in net this year and he does well, he could earn 6M next year. 6M Korpisalo leaves no room for Anderson, and just a bridge deal with DuBois, after giving away Wennberg. So while there are cap reasons to worry here, with Johnson signed through 35, there are cap reasons for Columbus to consider it. I also happen to think Johnson, for this year and next, adds something valuable to their blue line. His offense stayed low in Pittsburgh, but he just set career highs in hits and shots blocked, and he still killed a bunch of penalties.

Pittsburgh will be fine with Murray and Jarry. Colorado should be fine with Subban backing up Grubauer, and Francouz starting one last year in the AHL. The puzzle can land in a way that Columbus improves its goaltending for nothing, or everybody else can get better in net while Columbus hopes Korpisalo plays like he did four years ago, and somehow keeps it up for sixty games. Is the value perfect? I have no idea. But I think it could help both sides.